Short Essays

Watch and Wonder

Prompt- Write a descriptive essay which captures a sense of the difference between dawn and dusk and celebrates both the beginning and the end of the day.

Watch and Wonder

Time. An unstoppable force. An incomprehensible power. An energetic athlete peers at his watch as he rounds the final bend of the running track. A nervous looking student frantically rushes down the corridor searching for classroom nineteen. A spiritless man sits slumped on a bench gazing at the large clock above his head counting down the minutes until his train arrives. All these actions caused by the almighty time.
          "Time and tide wait for no man." This famous proverb evokes the pressing question. Time cannot be stopped but can it be forgotten?
          The darkness enveloped everything. The moon was the only illumination, hanging in the sky like a white circle chalked onto a dusty blackboard. An owl hoots somewhere out in the gloomy abyss. The sound pierces the silence like a ship's horn out of the fog. Lake water can be heard lapping against a grassy bank. A rustle in the long grass, a small creature on a mission to find food? The wind whistles between the branches of an ancient oak tree. This tranquil night-time din reminds us the clock is ticking. Time marches on through the night like an army heading for battle.
          Then, all of a sudden, the first whispers of light appear on the horizon like a climber clambering over a rocky ledge. A blackbird perched amid the green crown of an oak tree chirps. This triggers a chorus of birdsong. A magical melody that cannot be conducted. The sun, a fiery ball, rises into the sky casting an orange hue on the vista. The sun is a toddler with paint pots, splashing colour merrily in every nook and cranny. The surface of the lake transforms from from charcoal grey to a mystical silver. This newfound light, a beacon of hope, flashes off a fish's scales as it leaps out of the lake. The frolicking fish splashes back down into the water sending ripples spiralling out in all directions. The sun's glow falls on the droplets of dew, glistening on the grass like a sky full of stars.
A taxi- driver hits the brakes and rolls to a stop at the side of the road. He sits transfixed, his mind ensnared by the simplistic beauty of the dawn. Anxious as he had been to collect his customer on time, nature's astounding spectacle banished these worries from his head. A new feeling replaced them, a sense of hope.
Time brought the dawn and now time whisks it away. Day begins and taxi-driver's worries flood back into his head with the force of an avalanche but the hope planted by the dawn remains in his brain.
Day continues and time exercises its power once again. A man drums his fingers on the steering wheel of his car as he waits impatiently for the traffic lights to turn green. A football team launches the ball upfield desperately trying to score a winning goal before the final whistle sounds. A woman checks the clock on her computer screen and stands up from her desk as her growling stomach leads her towards the deli counter in the shop down the street. Day passes by quick as a timid glance.
The sun begins to drop in the sky spreading a plethora of pinks across the blue easel. The large oak tree casts a long, black silhouette on the grass behind. Swans swim by sweeping gracefully along the surface of the lake and disappearing into the distance. A flock of crows career around chaotically overhead cawing an cackling as they go. The darkness creeps in, like a tiger stalking its prey.
The taxi-driver hits the brakes and rolls to a stop a the side of the road. He had been rushing home to watch his favourite TV show but that thought was cast from his mind as quick as a flash of lightning. He gazes at the dusk amazed by its beauty. As he sits there entranced a memory slithers into his head. He recalls that very morning when he sat in his car, much like he is now, and watched as dawn broke. He remembers the feeling of hope that came with the daybreak. As he sat there and observed night gather around him another feeling crept into his mind. He looked back on his day and welled up with a sensation of contentment. His day had gone well. His hope had been fulfilled. Time swept away the last streaks of light and the darkness enveloped everything again. The taxi-driver realised his favourite TV show had started and drove off hastily, his headlamps illuminating the road ahead.
Time is always on our minds, a nagging worry tapping on the back of our skulls. You're probably thinking about the amount of time it's taken you to read this. Well if you weren't you are now. Time has immense power. Although, dawn and dusk wield power of their own too. The power to make us forget time and all the problems it poses. The power to instill hope. The power to evoke reflection. The power to make us stop and stare, look and listen, watch and wonder.